Knysna, South Africa

The first syllable is pronounced “nice”. And it is. We enjoyed our short stay in this seaside town just a short bus ride away from George. This is the main street through town.

Two views of **Knysnakerk** on **Voortrekker Street**: From the east and from the west.

Older jacaranda and palm tree shaded neighborhoods of the town slope gently down to the wide Knysna River as it empties into the Indian Ocean.

**Top left**: Riverfront green spaces are home to lots of waterbirds and other wildlife. Bottom left: The road leading into the island of Thesen Harbour Town. Markers are adorned with the Knysna Seahorses found locally. Right: Information on the boat-building for which the island was known.

The Knysna River empties out past **The Heads**.

**Next three photos** are of the walkways that follow along the Knysna River. Or maybe I should call it an estuary. It widens out quite a ways. A very pleasant place to walk or cycle. We saw lots of herons, egrets, stilts, and gulls, as well as a few oystercatchers, kingfishers, and other birds.

A member of the **Marsh Crab** family, *Parasesarma catenatum*.

**Cattle Egret**, *Bubulcus ibis*, and (inset) **Pied Kingfisher**, *Ceryle rudis*.

Three photos show the importance of aquatic life along the river harbor area.

**African Sacred Ibis**, *Threskiornis aethiopicus,* slumming it in a dumpster behind a grocery store. These birds, long famous in Egyptian and Middle Eastern lore, were unknown further south. But modern agricultural practices and unsanitary environmental practices such as seen here provided newfound attractions for these birds. The Sacred Ibises were first seen in South Africa in the 1970’s and they are quite common now. Unlike the smaller **Hadadas Ibises** they are generally quiet.

Signs in Afrikaans and English. This town did not feel particularly unsafe. but then again, we didn’t go out at night.

**Keedol’s Inn and Backpackers** is where we stayed. Best value in Knysna! The owners were helpful and friendly. We enjoyed our stay here and would come back again.

And just outside of the inn were these two birds! **Spotted Thick-Knee**, *Burhinus capensis*. I almost didn’t see them at first; they were so camouflaged and still. They must have felt at home here because we saw them outside the place two or three times. I always like seeing these staring solitary birds. Actually, usually they were in twosomes.

Some of the green spaces around the harbor might have some interesting surprises. This wooded area just east of the town and close to the harbor, seems to have been visited by at least one **leopard**, judging by the scat that was reported here in July of 2021.

Also nearby the area of the last photo are these perpetually nervous and talkative birds. Helmeted Guineafowl, *Numida meleagris*. I first saw these plump beauties in Del Rio, Texas when four or five of them, I’m assuming escapees, barged on to our property, rummaging under the pecan trees in our yard. I never thought I would be able one day to see them in the wild.

Other interesting birds found in these same woods: **Top**: The always photogenic **Speckled Pigeon**, *Columba guinea*. **Left: Black-bellied Starling**, *Notopholia corusca*. **Right: Piping Cisticola**, *Cisticola fulvicapilla.*

Another star attraction for this town is the **Pledge Nature Reserve**, conveniently within the town limits. Most of the park is well-wooded with signed paths and posts making it hard to get lost. Toward the northern end of the park (shown here) the habitat becomes more arid. The view here is southward, looking back over the town and harbor valley, the Indian Ocean in the distance.

**Above** and **Below**: The Reserve is where we saw the **Southern Vervet Monkey**, *Chlorocebus pygerythrus ssp. pygerythru*. Unlike the macaques these monkeys were rather shy.

A few of the birds seen at the **Pledge Reserve**: **Left: Black-headed Oriole**, *Oriolus larvatus*. Thjis golden songster is often heard before it is seen. It is interesting to me that certain families of birds, like orioles, have similar “*accents*” (for want of a better word). Throughout the world I have noticed that orioles often sound a certain recognizable way, thrushes, another, and so on. **Center: Karoo Prinia**, *Prinia maculosa*. **Right**: The **Fiscal Flycatcher**, *Melaenornis silen*s, could easily be mistaken for a shrike but for his more slender build and less pronounced hook on his beak.

Thanks to **iNaturalist** I was able to find this **Spotted Eagle-Owl,** *Bubo africanus*, two of them, as it turned out! The site showed the exact location of these birds down to two neighboring trees in a quiet commercial area of Thesen Island.

**Common Dwarf Gecko**, *Lygodactylus capensis*

A bumbling beauty, the **Giant Carpenter Bee**, *Xylocopa flavorufa*

Surprise, surprise (not)! The bus taking us back to George was three hours late. But we had already checked out of our guesthouse. So we had to kill time all packed up hanging around the downtown area. I took the opportunity to make a few candid photos. I guess Alexander Pope would have been pleased with me. He wrote:

“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan…
The proper **study** of **Mankind** is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great…” .

Having nothing else to do, that is what we did – people-watching.

The bus finally came and it was a short trip back to the bigger city of George. These four photos are of the stretch between the two places.

This pleasant equestrian scene is just a few miles south of George.

After a few days in George we flew up to Windhoek in Namibia and then traveled throughout that country as well as a good part of Botswana. You can select the tags or links for those reports somewhere in these pages.

My plan is to finish up the Africa reports with an article on **Pretoria** and **Johannesburg** – mostly the former.

Escape from the Cape: Riversdale, South Africa

The best experience I had in Africa, I would say, is in South Africa – here in Riversdale. Also the worst experience – Rustenburg. (But I am not planning on writing about that town).

The title of this article is more for the sake of rhyme than reason. Our stay in Cape Town was pleasant enough. But after a while we were wondering what the rest of the country was like. We were looking for some places that were not as touristic and, hopefully, still affordable to visit. That last factor proved more difficult the more we researched. Hotels and guesthouses were rather pricey. Luckily we found a suitable and affordable one in Riversdale, Rusticana Guest House.

The town of **Riversdale** as seen from the **Aloeridge Local Nature Reserve** with the **Langeberg Mountain Range** in the background.

A few photos of the trip away from Cape town. **Top Left**: A view from Sir Lowry’s Pass, showing False bay and Cape Town in the hazy distance. **Bottom Left**: I forget where this is but this country is where I learned just what “*biltong*” was – dried and cured meat, often of game. Pretty tasty. **Right**: Downtown **Caledon**.

**Views of Riversdale**. This town reminds me somehow of **Blackwell, Oklahoma**, in the US, seemingly laid-back, pleasant to explore.

The sign says “Parking for customers only.”

More views of the town. **Left**: Butcher shop in the foreground. “Butchery”, actually, is their word for that type of store! **Center**: Railroad tracks point toward the distant Sleeping Beauty Mountain. **Right**: One of the main tourist attractions for this town, going by how often I see it on web pages, is this old jail.

The **Dutch Reformed Church** and **Jacaranda Trees**, Church Street.

Walking through downtown I noticed that the majority are black (75%), the whites being a distinct minority (15%), only slightly more numerous than the coloreds (12%). This information comes from their municipal site. Those “colored” (Afrikaans “*Kleurlinge*” or “*Bruinmense*“) are those of mixed races, between European, Asian, or African.

Hopefully someone here can answer my question. What sport is this? The people are throwing these rods sort of like in horseshoes. I tried the internet but can’t get any answers. Anyone?

It helps to know Afrikaans in this art of the country. In fact, many people who look like they would speak English don’t understand it at all. More than once I was only able to find what I wanted in the stores by my knowledge of German and passable Dutch – and even then it was sometimes difficult.

**Above**, **clockwise from upper left**: 1. **Farmers Market,** and other activities, held every Saturday on those dates at the town park. With “*Versnaperings*“! (Snacks) 2. “Russians”, as far as we could tell, were just hot dogs. Maybe thicker, like the German Bockwurst. “Hoender” = “Chicken”. “Koeksisters” are braided traditional pastries, fried dough glazed with honey. 3. “We thank God for a long life.” I would say so. Francois A.B. lived to be 101. 4. Our hotel, helpfully, had a dual-language New Testament with Psalms. Whenever I try to learn a new language I often read familiar books in the Bible in that language, being already familiar with the passages in English.

Two more examples of Afrikaans. **Left**: “*Keep our town clean*“. **Right**: A monument in the town park commemorating those who undertook the **Great Trek**. “*With thankful memory of all those who took part in the Great Trek of 150 years ago. Installed by the Riversdale Association*“.

Looking northward from the **Aloeridge Local Nature Reserve**. **Left**: A pretty weed that is actually invasive here, a Vervain. I think it is the **Purpletop Vervain,** *Verbena bonariensis*. Native to South America, it has now spread to major parts of six continents. I remember seeing them on the university campus where I taught in Northeast China. **Right**: **Springbok**, *Antidorcas marsupialis*. I’d like to pretend that this was shot in the wild but these antelopes were actually in a campground in town. They may still be wild. Later, in George we saw dozens of them mingling with golfers on a well-manicured course.

The **Bokmakierie**, *Telophorus zeylonus*, songs as beautifully as he looks. As *they* look, I should say I heard the male and female singing a striking duet.

Normally I wouldn’t post so many bird photos in any one article but Riversdale had a wonderful variety of interesting and beautiful species that I had to indulge myself here. And there are even more I could have added.

**Left**: One of the star attractions of the *Fynbos* hill overlooking the town was this **Sombre Greenbul**, *Andropadus importunus*. **Upper Right**: **Cape Sparrow**, *Passer melanurus*. **Lower Right**: **Cape White-Eye**, *Zosterops virens*.

**Left**: This **Red-knobbed Coot**, *Fulica cristata*, was in nearby *Riviersonderend*. **Center**: **Cape Robin-Chat,** *Cossypha caffra*. **Right**: The intrepid **Fork-tailed Drongo**, *Dicrurus adsimilis*, reminded me of the American Kingbirds as he took on a hawk two or three times his size.

It is always a challenge getting a well-focused capture of the **Greater Double-collared Sunbird**, *Cinnyris afer,* as it darts in and out of the leafy trees throughout town.

Two of the three dove species that are commonly seen here: **Left**: **Red-eyed Dove**, *Streptopelia semitorquata.* **Right**: **Laughing Dove**, *Streptopelia senegalensis*

**African Hoopoe**, *Upupa africana*. This fellow was busily poking in the ground for ants and termites. This species is darker than the more well-known Eurasian Hoopoe.

I would really like to return to Riversdale. The place and the people intrigue me. But I don’t think we will. It is rather expensive to fly to South Africa and, once you are there, bus travel (train being almost totally non-existent now) is very problematic. For instance, we wanted to go up from George to see Oudsshoorn, famous for the Ostrich farms and canyonlands, a few hours to the north. But the only bus available for us at that time left around midnight. And the bus station in George is in a very unsafe part of town. Added to this, the buses were often late.

Next: Speaking of George, that will be the next article.

Francistown & Gaborone, Botswana

Traveling on to Francistown was a tricky proposition since we did not have our own vehicle. First we had to walk down to the intersection that passes for downtown Nata. And then we had to find a van heading south, waiting for quite a while in the van until we have a full compliment of passengers, something we call “achieving valence”. This should make sense if you took chemistry in school. This time we had to wait quite a while for the final two or three “electrons”!

**Above** and **Below**: Views on the way south. On this stretch we saw no wildlife just cattle, farms, and the odd store or business here and there.

Francistown was a bit of a disappointment, for me at least. If I may borrow and misuse Gertrud Stein’s comment on Oakland, California, I felt “there is no there there“. I mean the town has some history but they have managed to effectively obliterate most of it, covering it with malls and shabby-looking supermarkets. The most interesting place was the open air market right up against the bus terminal.

We also had trouble at first finding a good hotel. With a map app in hand we walked to where I thought was an affordable place. I finally found the place, opened the gate and knocked on the door. I was told, “This is not a hotel anymore. And you better leave the yard because there is a dog here that bites.”

This was now the second hotel off my list, the first being way too expensive just by looking at it. I was down to my last choice, the historical Diggers Inn. It was over $40 a night. I was going to settle for that and move on the next night but, luckily, I noticed just then another hotel just a block away that that was less than half that, City Inn. This place was perfectly suitable. End of a long travel day.

**Left**: The next day we explored the town starting with a small city park nearby. There were some interesting cultural exhibits here. I took some pictures and, strangely enough, a guard came up and told me that it was not allowed. I was told I could use a cellphone but not a camera! What a strange rule. And mine was not a really fancy camera.

**Right**: Pretty close to the hotel, on the edge of town was a steep, paved path that went right up Nyangabwe Hill, where you can get a good view of the city. Before we went up this lady (pictured) spoke to me, “*Hey, English!*” she said, “*We want to take a picture.* ” We obliged. And then we took their picture too.

Birds seen on our trek up the hill: **Left: Cut-throat Finch**, *Amadina fasciata*. (Not your usual prosaic bird name, don’t you think?) **Center: Southern Red Bishop**, *Euplectes orix*. **Right: African Gray Hornbill**, *Lophoceros nasutus*.

Photos **above** and **beow**: After two days we were ready to head down Highway A1 to the capitol city, Gaborone. We stopped in a few places, giving me a chance to take a few photos through the grimy tinted windows.

Finally made it to Gaborone. Everything we needed to see – and most of what I *wanted* to see – was in semi-easy walking distance. Like in many African cities, crossing the street was a bit dicey.

After a long walk to downtown we saw a cool, shady plaza where we sat down and rested. But a guard told us we were not allowed to be in the plaza because of Covid! This was in full view of street sweepers enjoying their lunch break under the shade nearby.

We were fortunate to get the affordable Gaborone Hotel (Below) right next to transportation, a market, and two shopping centers (Above).

**Left**: Botswanan stamps, **Top Right: Karoo Thrush**, *Turdus smithi* ,and **Frangipani Tree**. **Bottom Right**: **Speckled Mousebird**, *Colius striatus*.

Truck loaded with hay (?) at the Botswana-South Africa border checkpoint. We had to get out of the bus and walk quite a distance to the other side. I, without thinking, had my camera strapped around my neck. Because of this I had to fill out another form declaring the value of the camera, where I had bought it, and other pointless details. I should have left it in my backpack!

Welcome to South Africa!

Well… it was not really the kind of welcome that we wanted. But that is another story.

Trip to Nata, Botswana

The first half, maybe, of our road down to Nata from Kasane still had plenty of wildlife. But later – and especially when we approached Nata – the land became more agricultural and less wild. *Elephants, lions, zebras, and ostriches* gave way to *cattle* and rows upon rows of crops.
**Top**: The **Kasane Forest Reserve** stayed with us quite a ways as we headed south. I saw elephants and a zebra but, this time, I was not fast enough to get a good shot of them. Lower Left: The sign next to the picnic table reads: *“Disclaimer. This is a wild life area. You are stopping here at your own risk.”* **Lower Right**: As the land opened up more it was easier to see the ostriches.

**Left**: **Pandamatenga** grain silos. The weathered billboards on one of them reads “Financing Farmers to nurture and feed the nation”. **Right**: Entering a new district means getting out of the van and walking through the checkpoint. It felt good to stretch the legs.

**Top Left**: The common area of Eselbe Camp. We enjoyed staying here. We had a very affordable private room. Staying at this place was an unforgettable experience. **Right**: Germans friends we met at Eselbe Camp Backpackers, where we saw the Bush Babies. They were on the way up to Kasane. The very road we just came down in the van two days before. **Lower Left**: The stars of Eselbe Camp, **Bush Babies** (AKA **Southern Lesser** **Galago**, *Galago moholi*) performing nightly. They hide in the hollow beams of the common area you see in the first picture. When it gets dark they venture out tentatively from their hole – first looking around and staring at you for a few minutes . And then they spring into action. Spring is the word. It was incredible to see how quickly and high they were able to jump, like little furry grasshoppers. But very accurate in their leaps. We saw them jump five to ten feet from the platform on to the top of barbed wires, every time landing right *between* the points. *Amazing*.

**Left: Red-billed Firefinch**, *Lagonosticta senegala*. **Top Right**: **Meves’s Starling**, Lamprotornis mevesii. **Lower Right**: **Black-backed Puffback**, *Dryoscopus cubla*.

Canoeing is available at the camp. The **Nata River** is right behind the camp grounds.

A pleasant enough view but, truth be known, we already missed Kasane with all the Warthogs, elephants, hippos, and the rest. The bird life, too, was much more varied than here owing. Cattle have pretty much taken over the whole natural region around Nata, other wildlife being rather rare. There is a sizeable salt pan a few miles south of town. Being a protected area there would be good wildlife there, but it required private vehicle to get there. Or a willingness to walk further than we intended.

We spent two days in Nata and then walked the mile or so to the junction that pretends to be downtown Nata in order to get a van to take us to Francistown.

Nata has an importance way beyond its actual size. Although it is the 49th largest town in Botswana it is one that many travelers come to because it is on an important junction. For us, the main draw was seeing those Bush babies.

Next: Francistown (soon)

Katima Mulilo: Wild Fingertip of Namibia

And this article, for the most part, focuses on the “wild” part, not so much the nondescript town. I went through my pictures just now and I found very few of the town itself, the buildings and almost invariably sandy streets, that were interesting.

More comments coming soon.

This road parallels the main highway into town, a road only slightly less dusty. The contrast between these two roads is striking. Just out of sight of this photo above is a jumble of brick and corrugated dwellings. We didn’t feel especially safe walking down here after being somewhat aggressively importuned for money by a women with an axe in her hand. I know. Sometimes perceptions are just that. But there is also touristic “spider sense”.

We were quite happy staying at the Kololo Guesthouse, a collection of buildings that included a restaurant that made some pretty good pizza! Because our particular place was all metal the wifi reception was not great, but was decent when I sat outside by the table.

**Smith’s Bush Squirrel**, *Paraxerus cepapi*

**Left: Tawny-flanked Prinia**, *Prinia subflava*. **Center: Little Bee-Eater**, *Merops pusillus*. **Right: Black-collared Barbet**, *Lybius torquatus*

The best time to see this **White-browed Coucal**, *Centropus superciliosus*, or perhaps any Coucal or Cuckoo, is after a good rain, when they are often more exposed on treetops, drying off their feathers.

I had to venture through a lot of tangly brush to get this photo of the **Rufous-bellied Heron**, *Ardeola rufiventris*.

A green-feathered beauty on the muddy path. The **Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove**, *Turtur chalcospilos*

**African Openbill**, *Anastomus lamelligerus*, a stork that posed conveniently atop a tree.

**Schalow’s Turaco**, *Tauraco schalowi*, a bird that looks like he was designed by Dr. Seuss! Our first Turaco we saw was in George, South Africa, but this species is even more exotic-looking.

**Top row**: **Prosmidia conifera** and **Forest Elfin** (I think)
**Middle**: Unknown Beetle and **Citrus Swallowtail**
**Bottom**: **Lucia Widow** and **Eastern Dotted Border**

Selling eggs near the vans and taxis that lead south to Botswana.

The future of Katima Mulilo walking slowly to school.

This is the last of my Numibia posts, at least for now. Maybe my next article will be a totally different part of the world. We have been blessed to have been able to travel to many more places than I have time and energy to write about.

Colorful Divundu

“Colorful” is a good name for it, starting with the Elegant Grasshopper shown below, but also the various birds and, most of all, the people and culture in general. This is National Geographic Africa, quite off the tourist trail. However, enough tourists come through that it did not make us such an oddity, but most of them did not stay more than a day – if that. We stayed for a whole week. For many, I noticed, it was a place to fill up the gas tank, get more groceries and hard -nose it on to Katima Mulilo at the end of the Caprivi Strip. Or take the spur south to the more famous Maun, Botswana.

(BTW, currently we are in Malaysia, flying out to Borneo on Saturday!)

**Elegant Grasshopper**, *Zonocerus elegans*

**Meves’s Starling**, *Lamprotornis mevesii*. There are three or four shiny black birds in Divundu, not always easy to tell apart, but they are all striking.

**Above** and **Below**: Downtown Divundu. This is where a lot of Mom and Pop stores are, believe it or not.

We called this the “Business District”. Later in the day it is more alive with foot traffic. The metal building to the right is a “shebeen”, basically a bar.

Cows and people – and the occasional dust-blasting car – on the road in front of our guesthouse.

This was our digs. Notice the Springbok pelt on the wall. Not really the Radisson! But good enough for our tastes.

**Fish trap** on the Okavango River. This is actually a small-scale fishing weir. Bream, tilapia and tiger fish are caught in these waters.

Traveling the Okavango in traditional style. The makoros canoe – hollowed out in one piece from the African Ebony tree. This boat is not kind to sudden movements! Because there is no keel it is easy to tip over. Not a good idea for this crocodile-crowded river. Maybe “crowded” is too strong a word, but I did see them the last two times I crossed over on the bridge.

I would have to think that a sudden, loud splash might sound like a dinner bell to them.

**Nile Crocodile**. I was glad to spot this lazy lurker from the bridge spanning the Okovango River, and not in the canoe shown above.

I hurried across to the other side of the bridge to see this fellow floating downriver like a lazy log.
The next day we took a taxi out of town. The driver told us about a crocodile that almost pulled him in the river. He still had the scar.

**Crested Barbet**, *Trachyphonus vaillantii*. Taken at the Checkpoint where we waited for a ride on down the Caprivi strip

A bucket on her head, baby on her back, and phone in her hand. Triple-tasking.

**White-crested Helmetshrike**, *Prionops plumatus*. This was a flock of maybe ten birds, which strikes me as unusual for shrikes. Shrikes usually are just in ones or twos since they have to hunt for prey. These are definitely forest birds. We only saw them after quite a walk into the Kobe National Park.

**Lilac-breasted Roller**, *Coracias caudatus*

The **White-fronted Bee-Eater**, *Merops bullockoides*, was one of four different Bee-Eaters I saw in Divundu.

The tree that Zaccheus climbed, the “Sycamore” of the King James Bible is a fig tree with fruits growing from the trunk

On the way to fieldwork, some of them, others seem to be returning from the grocery store across the river.

These last four photos are from a private vehicle we were finally able to hitch. The guard at the checkpoint kindly did the “hitching” for us, asking driver after driver if they would take us. After an hour we succeeded. They called it “hiking”, meaning “hitch-hiking”!

Beautiful **Ostriches** showing off by the roadside.

This road had much more foot and donkey traffic than cars.

Next: Katima Mulilo

Traveling across Namibia’s “Finger”: Caprivi Strip

We have been slowly venturing like ants along the eastward-pointing finger of Namibia, spending time in Tsumeb, Grootfontein, Rundu, Divundu, and lastly in the town of Katima, in the region’s “fingernail”. A dirty fingernail that city was too, dusty or muddy streets and poor infrastructure. But a lot of friendly people. And some not-so-friendly animals.

This was going to be a one-off but, once again, the sheer number of pictures I pored over – and the associated memories – will make this a two or three-parter.

**Tsumeb** is the first of two towns where we spent less time than anticipated, the other being Rundu. We could not find a place that was both suitable to our budget and near to nature. Also in Tsumeb, on our first morning nature walk, we were warned by a passing local not to continue in our direction, saying that she was robbed at knifepoint. After that we thought twice about going venturing to far from town.

**Above** **Left**: **Jeremia Evangelical Lutheran Church** with separate services in German and English. **Center**: Flamboyant Tree, *Delonix regia*. **Right**: Abandoned shaft tower. Gold, silver, lead, and other minerals were once mined here in great quantities. The discovery to a rich mineral-producing geological pipe gave rise to the founding of the city by Germans over a hundred years ago.

**Left**: Photo taken from a **Grootfontein** gas station where we waited almost two hours to get enough riders to go on to Rundu. It took two taxis to come up to Rundu. The driver in Tsumeb gave me the impression that he would take us all the way. But instead he did a “Guatemala Handoff”. **Right**: After a while I noticed there were at least some interesting birds to be seen. Above were several rare **White-backed Vultures** gyring far overhead, too distant for clear shots. Luckily there were birds much closer to the station like this gorgeous **Long-tailed Paradise Whydah**, *Vidua paradisaea*

**Above**: Hobnobbing with friends while at work. I would think the girls would not be so relaxed with the loads balanced on their heads. **Below**: These beasts of burden often had their own contrary agenda. It took four or five of the boys to ease them backwards into the holding area. (“Ease” maybe the wrong word!)

All four photos above were taken from our shared taxi van, waiting almost an hour for enough passengers wanting to go eastward. (We call this “achieving valence”). We made the mistake of paying the driver at first. We have since learned to try to pay on arrival. As it is, the driver made himself hard to find, in effect making us captive passengers.

Unlike in Tsumeb we did have a good nature walk in Rundu, and having a conversation of sorts with the border guards at this water crossing, just a hop, skip, and splash from Angola (the far shore seen here). After talking with them we walked a ways along the river’s edge, seeing Hornbills, Weavers, and a good variety of shorebirds.

After we were leaving a man, supposedly an official, yelled at us to come back. It seems we were not allowed to go where we went without permission (although the border guards knew where we were going and said nothing). We ignored this man, pretty sure that he was trying to soak money from some foreigners.

And this is the main reason we did not stay long here. The main nature area was ruined for us.

**Left**: Meyer’s Parrot, *Poicephalus meyeri*. **Center**: Millipedes don’t get any larger than the Giant African Millipede, *Archispirostreptus gigas.* They are sometimes well over a foot long. Right:Southern Red Bishop, *Euplectes orix*.

Final three photos: There were few places along the stretch between Rundu and Divundu that did not have people in view.

Next: Divundu

Kasane: Wildlife Paradise of Northeast Botswana

The next two posts are going to be about our recent trip through Botswana. Most of the better photos and memories are of this country are of the very first town we came to – Kasane. The town itself was remarkably unremarkable. The biggest interest of Kasane was not the buildings or streets but the animals that made the streets their home. When we first came to town we were told not to go out at night.

“Why? Muggers?”
“No, the elephants come down from the hills and come to town.”

Below: African Fish Eagle, Terathopius ecaudatus. We saw this magnificent bird towards the end of our stay in Kasane, but I thought it would be a good photo to start with. I was so glad I was looking in the right direction to get this shot.

We were slowly working our way through first Namibia and then Botswana. I still plan to write about those earlier trips. This is the border entrance to both Botswana and Chobe National Park. The Baobab tree is host to a Weaver “village” and also some Green Woodhoopoes (next photo).

Green Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus. Almost every time I saw these birds they were a threesome. Noisy and very active.

The first unusual wildlife we saw was this rare Southern Ground Hornbill, Bucorvus leadbeateri, walking down the road.

And the, a minute or two later, I got my first good look – and shot – at an African Elephant. As it turns out this was the only good look we had at one. Later on we had more encounters, but not this close. More on that below.

These Chacmas were on the shopping center roof. Food (garbage) is plentiful. When the litter did not suffice they do what I saw an enterprising male do. He came down to the open air food court, crouching on the rim of the trash can, picked out what he wanted, throwing over his shoulder what he didn’t.

Kasane. The town is not much to look at.

General store near our guest house. We opted to walk the extra distance to the Pic-n-Pay in the center.

Another noisy trio, the well-named Arrow-marked Babbler, Turdoides jardineii.

Southern Cordonbleu, Uraeginthus angolensis

Pearl-spotted Owlet, Glaucidium perlatum

The Hamerkop, Scopus umbretta, flying can easily be mistaken for a bird of prey.

Beautiful Carmine Bee-eaters, Merops nubicoides, snarfing up dragonflies and other insects in the parking lot of the grocery store. Very tame too.

I love these majestic baobabs. Kasane, Botswana. Several times we came across these knobby giants,

Every morning we went for a nature walk, striking out in different directions. We didn’t know it but on some of those days we were within the Chobe National Park. Elephant scat on our path – a path they probably made themselves! Also we spooked a crocodile from the bank before I could get a good picture of him sunning.

One of our favorite places is this riverside area just a mile or so out of town. Chobe River. Namibia is just across the river. We saw the Fish Eagle from this deck. And we also saw – first heard! – the Hippopotamus (below).

We finally saw a hippo in the wild! I heard him first with his high-pressure air blast as he came up from the river. Photo was taken from the relative safety of the wooden walkway in the previous photo.

The wooden walkway, dilapidated in places, kept us at a safe distance from any hippos and crocs. But as we followed the boardwalk I looked ahead at this group, several dozen Macaques (also called Baboons but that would ruin my alliteration). I was more concerned about the morose movement of those guys watching us from the roof of an abandoned (closed supposedly for renovation) Wildlife Exhibit. We decided to backtrack.

There are several churches like this in the forest.

Marabou Storks, Leptoptilos crumenifer, and Impalas (We counted about 90 of them near an old quarry). We saw these as we took a dirt path back to the highway. We saw no one on the path. Perhaps it was unwise for us to go on this rarely used path. The animals certainly seemed surprised to see us.

The path not taken. Why not? We heard loud elephant trumeting. We took the other path (where we saw the Impalas).

Waiting for the bus. This is the main highway through town.

Warthogs are all through the town, emerging from muddy culverts, tearing up gardens. But they are pretty docile to humans, sort of like squirrels in America. Grunting, tail-swishing, free-roaming squirrels.

The Waterbuck stops here. Good thing too, giving me time for a quick shot.

Cape Town, South Africa: A Place like no Other

About a month ago we left Mauritius for South Africa, spending about three weeks in Cape Town. I have always wanted to visit this country and it didn’t disappoint. Other than jagged overnight sleep in the airport we didn’t see much of Johannesburg. Just as well.

We arrived in Cape Town on a bright morning and, after buying bus cards and the necessary electric plug adapter – a strange-looking plug with three large thick cylindrical prongs – we took the bus to City Center.

View of City Center and harbor area from Lion’s Head.

The view from our first of three hotels we stayed at: A soup kitchen. This city has quite a few displaced people. Some sleep in certain areas of town where there are permitted to set up tents or makeshift shacks. Others just sleep rough in the corners of the less busy streets, with cardboard for a bed and plastic for a sheet.

This first guest house was pretty well run. Given the sketchy neighborhood, that was a good thing. The house manager gave us a fistful of keys and an earful of instructions and how and where to use them. We felt pretty safe.

The two photos above are of the City hall. **Top**: Looking Northwest up Darling Street. Signal Hill in the back ground. **Bottom**: Nelson Mandela statue signifying at the building’s front entrance.

Table Mountain as seen from The Company’s Garden Park, the “company” being the East India Company. The first seeds were planted here in 1652, making this the oldest garden in the country. They also boast the “oldest cultivated pear tree in South Africa (circa 1652)”. – Wikipedia

Business downtown, Adderly Street (not quite City Center) is a very modern, upscale part of town. Notice the Art Deco white building.

Leaving downtown via Long Street takes us through some rough neighborhoods. Crime is pretty bad here, sometimes even in the day. When I took this photo I just wanted a view up one of the side streets as our bus went up Long Street. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the details in the foreground.

The Castle of Good Hope once guarded the city’s shore. It no longer does. For two reasons. 1. Cannons and fortress walls are, of course, hopelessly out of date. 2. The coast has receded over a kilometer away thanks to land reclamation in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Clock Tower and Fish Market. Sea Lions are pretty common here, especially in the evening.

Sea Point: Contrast between old and new. The Ritz Hotel is no longer in business. Locals told me that they could not compete with the newer businesses closer to the Waterfront.

Green Point Park, a great place to connect with the locals and the wildlife. Photos of this will be in the next post.

Lion’s Head as seen from Green Point Park. Almost always this view would include hang gliders coming off the mountain. Somehow I managed to have a shot with none.

Another view of Table Mountain, this time from Sea Point. The lower shoulder of Signal Hill is the nearer mountain.

One of the best features of this city is the miles-long promenade. From here we were able to see all kinds of birds as well as dolphins.

A lot of shipping, obviously, goes around the Cape. My telephoto makes it seem like the ship is close to the shore. It wasn’t.

Also seen from the promenade, thanks to the telephoto, is Robbens Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years.

These last two photos are of Camps Bay Beach. The mountains are named The Twelve Apostles.

Another view of the beach. It is often very crowded, being easily accessible from the city. Not having a car, we really appreciated the excellent bus system in this city.

Sunny Southeast Corner of Africa: Mauritius

The title of this article is a courtesy to many readers, myself included, who may not have known just where Mauritius is. Others might have confused it with similar-sounding Mauritania, which is on the opposite corner of Africa. But looking at a map you can see this island is on the sunrise side of Madagascar.

It is technically part of Africa, but it feels more like India, or maybe Madagascar. When we came here two weeks ago we had very little knowledge of this island country. It has been full of surprises. This first post is more of a general write-up. In the following article I hope to write about the environment here.